VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The sub-Saharan African economy could face a serious decline in 2016, far behind the rest of the economies in the world.

AIG has announced in January planning for spinning off its mortgage insurer unit United Guaranty, following pressure from the shareholders. Following the announcement, Standard & Poor’s, a credit rating agency has downgraded its rating with specific reasoning. The mortgage insurer of AIG has disclosed through a regulatory filing that it intends to go for an initial public offering.

Following Valeant Pharmaceuticals' meltdown, S&P rating service puts Pershing Square Holdings Ltd on review. However, S&P acknowledged swift decision by the firm to strengthen its liquidity after a massive loss.

S&P and Moody’s have downgraded economic outlook of Azerbaijan during the previous month. On Friday, the other US Stock Exchange Commission recognized rating agency, Fitch Ratings, has also downgraded the outlook. Country’s government and central bank adopted measures have apparently gone in vain to tackle the economic turmoil.

Glencore signed new loan commitments of $8.45 billion revolving credit facility. The company took on the new liabilities when it was already struggling to pay off its existing debt of $30 billion. Despite being pulled to the lowest rank in the investment grade, the Swiss commodities trader received support from its loyal lenders, which came as a surprise for some.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has cut rating on Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as it's suffering from lower oil prices. The long -term foreign and local currency sovereign credit has been lowered to 'A minus/ A-2' from 'A plus / A-1.'

Oil and gas market have been tattering due to existing sharp downtrend in price. Many oil companies have been writing down the value of shale assets over the past 20 months since prices started crashing. BHP Billinton Ltd. has also become dependent on bank debts to maintain soaring expenses and plans to cut dividends for the first time in 25 years. Finally, following the industry trend, BHP has announced for writing down US energy assets worth $7.2 billion.

Brazil's investment-grade credit falls beyond correction and into junk territory as Standard & Poor's downgraded the country's debt Wednesday. According to a report from The Guardian, Standard & Poor's said that Brazil lost its investment-grade status as it is projected with a negative outlook. This downgrade is unfortunate as the nation enters a recession.

Glencore's Chief Executive Officer, co-founder, and second largest shareholder Ivan Glasenberg is set to pay $210 million of the company's impending $2.5 billion sale of new shares to repair its balance sheet.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Japan's credit rating by one notch after the government failed to take steps in this fiscal year's budget to offset a delay in a sales tax increase, the agency said on Monday.

Andorra will create a 'bad bank' to group the assets of Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA) linked to illicit activity, it said late on Thursday, as the principality battles to rebuild the reputation of its banking system.

Citigroup (C.N) has sold its nearly 10 percent stake in Turkey's Akbank (AKBNK.IS) for $1.2 billion, the U.S. lender said on Thursday, its latest disposal of overseas assets to cut costs and boost profits.

Janet Yellen's premium on consensus may lead to a Federal Reserve decision the chair hasn't yet endorsed, as a near majority aligns in favor of a possible June interest rate hike.

Investors wiped $35 billion off Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) market value on Tuesday without any clear-cut, single explanation. The world's largest software company, whose shares had climbed about 30 percent over the past 12 months to near 15-year highs, instead worried investors with a series of troubling signals in its earnings report and conference call on Monday.

Standard & Poor's on Tuesday cast doubt on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ability to repair Japan's tattered finances less than two weeks away from a snap election, after Moody's downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating.